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COLUMBUS, Ga. — From CCG suing itself for charging property taxes on public buildings it already owns, to the city settling a year-long case of racial and gender based discrimination for $600,000, to city councilors calling out the bureaucratic manipulation from city departments intended to undermine their vote, here’s all the muck that’s fit to print from the Columbus, Georgia area, along with a look at what to expect in the week ahead.
CCG TAXED ITS OWN PUBLIC PROPERTY; SUED ITSELF, LOST APPEAL
This story was originally published on July 10, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — In a landmark case of governmental double-dipping, the Columbus Board of Tax Assessors was denied permission to charge property taxes to the Hospital Authority for owning Spring Harbor.
The final ruling was issued by the Georgia Court of Appeals on June 28, 2023, after two prior court cases already ruled the tax board overstepped its bounds by trying to tax the publicly-owned retirement community.
Since the retirement community is owned and operated by CCG’s Hospital Authority under strict criteria, the retirement community is deemed public property and is thus exempt from ad valorem property taxes — though that didn’t stop the Board of Tax Assessors from trying for over a decade in court.
The crux of the dilemma rested on whether or not the Hospital Authority — who owns Spring Harbor through a lease from Columbus Regional Healthcare — was using its income to further “the legitimate functions of the Hospital Authority.” Since an audit of Spring Harbor’s revenue determined it was in fact being properly used to pay back the government bonds used to build the retirement community in the first place, the courts have again deemed Spring Harbor to be public property under the ownership and control of CCG’s Hospital Authority.
As is no surprise, CCG can’t tax its own public property — especially one whose revenue is used as public money to pay back the government bonds used to build it in the first place.
Explore the full story to see how the Tax Board lost three times on final appeal in a landmark case of governmental double-dipping.
HERE'S A SNAPSHOT OF CCG'S FINANCES FROM THE PAST FISCAL YEAR
This story was originally published on July 11, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The city has published its annual ‘snapshot review’ of its fiscal performance during the past fiscal year from July 2022 through the end of May 2023.
A quick look at the document shows revenue performance that did not meet expectations, along with a few rather worrisome holes.
You can take a look at the city’s document for yourself here and use it as a reference as we dive into it below.
From July 2022 through the end of May 2023, the city’s General Fund saw a 7.24% overall increase in revenue from the year before. From the previous year’s income of $148.8 million, the city managed to grow that number to just over $159.5 million during FY2023.
However, the city had planned to bring in even more: it budgeted an expected revenue of $166 million, falling well short by only producing $159.5 million.
Explore the full story to see the city’s own snapshot review of its financial performance in FY2023, along with a look at the highlights.
CITY SETTLES CPD RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CASE FOR $600K; OFFICER COMMENTS
This story was originally published on July 12, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The city council unanimously voted to authorize the settlement of a year-long suit of racial- and gender-based discrimination against the city.
The vote, which occurred at the very end of the city council meeting held on July 11 after the Council returned from executive session, authorized the payment of $600,000 to two officers of the Columbus Police Department who were systematically discriminated against based on their race and gender by the city’s promotion policy.
That policy blatantly violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as Title 42 U.S.C., Section 1981.
Immediately upon the council’s vote to authorize the settlement, we reached out to one of the officers who had been systemically discriminated against to see if they could provide comment. Very humbly, the officer had the following to say, noting that no other news outlet seemed to notice the huge conclusive settlement nor had reached out for comment.
Explore the full story for the intricate details along with what one of the officers had to say.
MAYOR’S OFFICE SET TO OPEN AT NEW $50 MILLION CITY HALL BUILDING ON JULY 18
This story was originally published on July 13, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — As of this coming Tuesday, July 18, 2023, the city’s top governmental offices are scheduled to open for business at the new downtown City Hall complex.
The new City Hall complex is located in the former Synovus building at 1146 and 1148 Broadway.
Nearly two years ago on September 28, 2021, the Columbus Consolidated Government approved a resolution to fund the purchase and renovation of the downtown building complex.
The resolution authorized the issuance of $50 million worth of government lease revenue bonds from the Columbus Building authority. Half of that total was for the initial purchase of the buildings — which included its 634-space parking deck — and the other half was to cover the renovations required to outfit the complex for government use.
It should be noted that while City Council itself holds its meetings at the City Services Center on the other side of town, the Clerk of Council’s Office will now be housed apart from where Council itself operates. Since Councilors do not have their own offices, they have previously relied on resources afforded to the Clerk of Council that are no longer directly accessible to them.
The entire move to purchase, renovate, and relocate into the new City Hall complex — which is part of a string of infrastructure revamp at the total cost of $743 million — comes after decades of willful neglect of the city’s existing downtown Government Center building.
A technical document produced by the Columbus Consolidated Government shows it knew the downtown government center wasn’t being maintained since at least 2007.
Despite the 2007 document showing a known lack of maintenance for at least the past 16 years, three different mayoral administrations have continued to blame the building’s ‘old age’ for its decrepit condition. One administration passed the problem onto the next as they made excuses and pretended the problem was somehow ‘normal.’
Meanwhile, for that entire 16 year period, City Manager Isaiah Hugley sat by the entire time and did absolutely nothing to ensure the proper maintenance of the structure; it continued to decay into its current state of governmentally-created blight.
Explore the full story for the details along with a complete list of where things are within the new City Hall complex.
COUNCILORS APPALLED AT CITY BUREAUCRACY OVER CPD TAKE-HOME CARS
This story was originally published on July 14, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — City councilors appeared to be appalled at the misleading presentation of information by city officials on allowing public safety officers to drive their vehicles home into Alabama.
During the city council meeting on July 11, 2023, councilors were provided with a presentation on the subject from the city’s Risk Management Department.
That presentation, as briefed by CCG’s Risk Management & Compliance Officer, Lauren Vance, painted a picture of the “great risk” involved in allowing officers to take their patrol vehicles home across state lines at the end of a shift. The entirety of the information presented focused on insurance risks that would exceed the city’s current caps.
However, the presentation failed to mention that CPD officers already drive their vehicles into Alabama every day in a professional capacity through the conduct of daily operations. It also paid no attention to the historical likelihood of accidents occurring, nor could internal bureaucratic officials seem to understand why that was obviously relevant for council members to know. Instead, the presentation omitted any and all relevant information that did not pertain to the city’s insurance policy.
Several councilors appeared to openly speculate that the information being presented by internal city departments was intended to dissuade city council into voting against the idea; departments under the direction of City Manager Isaiah Hugley may have been seeking to produce their own bureaucratically-predetermined outcome by manipulating council’s vote.
In response, councilors voiced extremely logical and passionate arguments in favor of allowing public safety employees — particularly CPD officers — to drive their work vehicles home to Alabama. By pointing out the serious impact the topic has had on officer morale, retention, and ultimately the safety of our city in its fight against violent crime, some of those councilors’ words were met with boisterous rounds of applause from the audience.
It was truly a sight to be seen.
Explore the full story to see how unelected CCG bureaucrats appeared to be seeking a predetermined outcome by manipulating council’s vote.
MILL CREEK E. COLI LEVELS STILL UNSAFE; DATA KEPT QUIET DESPITE EFFORTS
This story was originally published on July 15, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Levels of E. Coli water contamination at the confluence of Mill Creek into the Chattahoochee River remains dangerously unsafe, according to the most recent data published locally on the Chattahoochee River Conservancy’s (CRC) Facebook page on July 14, 2023.
The data showed levels of E. Coli contamination 4.3 times the maximum safety limit for recreational use.
The contamination of E. Coli demonstrates the definitive presence of fecal matter in the water. The consistently-dangerous level of measured contamination has been a chronic problem that Phenix City officials claim they “cannot explain.”
The data, — which is collected weekly by the CRC from Memorial Day through Labor Day — has not been published to the organization’s website nor anywhere else on the searchable internet since 2021.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, levels of E. Coli above 235 Colony Forming Units (CFU) per each sample of 100 mL of water deems the location unsafe for recreational activity. Additionally, the EPA recommends levels to be ideally maintained under 100 cfu/100mL.
The recorded levels at the Mill Creek confluence, however, continue to be completely off the charts, with measurements greater than ten times the EPA’s maximum safety limit.
Explore the full story to see the data visualized, along with a look at what the good people at the CRC had to say.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The next meeting of the Columbus City Council is scheduled for next Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at 5:20 p.m. on the second floor of the C. E. “Red” McDaniel City Services Center located at 3111 Citizens Way, Columbus, GA 31906.
The Board of Tax Assessors is also scheduled to meet this coming Monday, July 17, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. on the second floor of the City Services Center in the Tax Assessor’s Office. It will be the second meeting of the Board after losing its court appeal on June 28, where the Board sought to charge property tax to Spring Harbor despite a court ruling already declaring it a public building and exempt from taxation.
The meeting of the Personnel Review Board scheduled for July 19, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. has been canceled.
Join Today. Protect Tomorrow.
There has never been a better time to be a Columbus Police Officer!
The Columbus Police Department is a state and nationally accredited law enforcement agency dedicated to protecting and serving the citizens of Columbus, Georgia. Become part of a highly trained law enforcement team focused on building and maintaining strong community partnerships that improve the safety and quality of life for every citizen. Join today and protect the promise of a better tomorrow.
A Look At Personal Safety
As the Columbus Police Department continues to unify under its new leadership model, violent crime is still likely to exist at higher levels than we would all like — even in what have previously been thought of as the “safer parts” of our city.
We at the Muckraker want to encourage our readers and their loved ones to remain hyper-vigilant as they go about their daily lives.
Based on lifetimes of experience and the combined professional careers of us at the Muckraker and our associates, here are what we consider to be the most important ways Columbusites can make themselves “hard targets” to avoid becoming a crime victim:
Back Our Blue
In closing, we at the Muckraker would like to thank the outstanding men and women of the Columbus Police Department who continue to shell out for the safety and well-being of our city each and every day, despite the abhorrent temporary conditions they are currently forced to work within.
“All police officers are entitled to outstanding leadership.”
Our city cannot thank you enough for what you do for us.
If you’re out and about throughout the week and see one of our city’s brave and valiant police officers, be sure to thank them. We’d bet it would mean an awful lot to them.
Residents are strongly encouraged to express their concerns and condolences for the brave men and women of the Columbus Police Department by emailing Mayor Skip Henderson directly at SkipHenderson@columbusga.org, while cc’ing their respective city council members on the email.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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